LEV. 25:8 And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years~ and the space of the seven sabbaths of years Shall be unto thee forty and nine years.

9 Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.

10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.

11 A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed.

12 For it is the jubile; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.

13 In the year of this jubile ye shall return every man unto his possession.

14 And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest ought of thy neighbour's hand, ye shall not oppress one another:

15 According to the number of years after the jubile thou shalt buy of thy neighbour, and according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee:

16 According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for according to the number of the years of the fruits doth he sell unto thee.

17 Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am the LORD your God.

18 Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety.

19 And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.

20 And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase:

21 Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.

23 The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.

24 And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land.

HEART OF THE LESSON

The word "jubilee" has become a general term for a big celebration. Often it commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of a business or association.

This week's lesson tells of the beginning of Jubilee. Not surprisingly, it was God's idea.

1. Jubilee proclaimed (Lev. 25:8-12). This special time began on a solemn note. The priest blew a ram's horn to gather the people together for a day of atonement. They were to repent of their sin so that they would be clean before the Lord.

Jubilee was originated by God on the Sabbath principle. There were to be seven seven-year periods. Then the year after, the fiftieth year. was to be a Sabbatical Year. No farming was to be done in the Sabbatical Year. In this way, God conserved the land and other natural resources. It was good agricultural and ecological practice because it gave the ground time to replenish the vital nutrients needed for good crops.

As a practical way of remembering their history as slaves in Egypt, the Israelites celebrated the freedom they had in their own land. They knew this land was a gift from God. As God's covenant people, they were free to serve Him and exclude other gods.

During the Jubilee, God's people were to set their hearts and minds on God and His holiness. All debts were forgiven. Slaves were set free.

2. Land returned (Lev. 25:13-17). Jubilee was not a time for thinking about accumulating vast wealth or becoming materialistic, as the surrounding nations were. Godless nations plundered other nations in order to become more wealthy.

God told the Israelites that the land, this Promised Land, belonged to Him. The tribes were to be stewards of it for Him. Leases for land were to run only until the next Jubilee Year If a person fell on hard times and had to give up his land, he was able to repossess it during Jubilee. So God began the first land reform.

3. Trust God (Lev. 25:18-21, 23-24). The Jubilee time was a test for lsrael. The way it worked out, there was the Sabbatical Year, when no crops were grown; then there was the actual Jubilee Year, in which again there were no crops. This meant two years without new crops.

The people had to trust God completely to fulfill their needs. This was a time of faith. Would they be obedient to Him? They were to live a simple life in which they ate stored food (and perhaps some volunteer growth from the ground, such as perennial grains and seeds).

Jubilee occurred only once in a normal lifetime. It was a time of new beginnings for the poor and those deep in debt. Now they could begin with a clean slate.

Jubilee was meant to be a time of personal growth in faith. It was a time to reflect on God and His mercy.

As Christians, we do not have a Year of Jubilee as the ancient Hebrews did, However, we can live a Jubilee type of life each day. We can rejoice that our spiritual debts have been forgiven when we trust in Jesus as our Saviour and Lord. Jesus' power over sin and death has set us free from the slavery of sin. Jesus is our jubilee in every way.

We can share with other Christians as the Israelites did with each other We view the possessions we have as ours. In fact, everything we have belongs to the Lord. This includes material possessions as well as talents, time, and even our children. We need to possess all the things we have been given withan open hand, offering them back to the Lord as He wills.

QUESTIONS

1. What was the Year of Jubilee? How often did it occur?

2. What was the significance of the Day of Atonement? How does this relate to New Testament believers?

3. With regard to sowing and reaping, what were the people to do during the Year of Jubilee?

(Reprinted by permission of The Incorporated Trustees of the Gospel Worker Society and Union Gospel Press, P.O. Box 6059, Cleveland, Ohio, 44101)